John f



(No Moldel.)

No. 606,622. Patented June 28, 1898.

.UNITED ASTATI-3s y JOHN' F.

PATENT Orrrcjn.

TOYWILLIAM R; GRAY, OF SAME PLACE.

KITE. I'

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 6o6,e22 ,`1atea June 28, 189s. Application net september-1,1897. s eria1'No.e5o,e7o. (Numtel.)

To a/ZZ, whom it may concern.' Be it known that I, JOHN F. CooLEY, a citizen of the United States, and a residentof the city of Rochester, county of Monroe, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Kites, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure l is a perspective View of a'kite embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation, on a larger scale, of the same' device. Figs. 3, 4, and are views of details. Fig. .6 shows a modified form of a kite embodying my invention.

The object of my invention is to produce an easily-constructed, strong, and highly-effi-H cient kite. I accomplish this objeot by the devices and arrangements thereof hereinafter set forth and claimed. y

The kites produced before my inventionl herein described haveI been of two classes: first, the 'ordinary kite, including in this class the kite known as the Malay, and,

' second, kites constructed upon what is now known as the principle of the aero plane.

My present invention relates tokitesof the' latter class,involvingjcertain radical improvements thereon. 'v

In the drawings, A is the main spar of the kite, which extends through the center thereof and connects the fro nt and rear members. This spar may of course in large kites be trussed or otherwise stayed and strengthened in order to sustain the strains which' it may encounter. At each end of the main spar is attached (in the form shown in Fig. l) a horiv zontal wing B and a smaller vertical wing C,

the two wings B and C intersecting each other and being fastened to the main spar near its end. In the broader view of my invention' I do not limit Amyself to the manner in which these wings and the spar are connected; but for. the purpose of producing a strong, light, and at the same time efcient kite I prefer to connect them inthe following manner: Each of the wings is formed of a suitable air-resisting fabric,l combining strength and lightness, stretched uponla framework' having,in the case of the wing B,a front bar b and a rear bar 'b'. fThese bars being transversely fastened to the main spar sustain the fabric in proper position for action. For the further purpose of cheap construction I make the bars b and b of wire and' unite them at the ends by the longitudinal bars b2. In fact, the whole frame, consisting of the bars b, b', and b2, is integral. The fabric B' of' the horizontal wing B is not stretched tightly between the bars b and b, but has -some slack therein. The purpose of this slackis in order that in winds of varying velocity7 the curvature of the surface of the fabric may change and adjust itself to the' force of the wind'.

This principle is well known in connection with the sails of vessels, in which the sail is not formed or strained to produce a flat surface, but is arranged with a due amount of slack, so that the angle of incidence and of reflection of the particles of air acting upon the surface may not cause an interference nor counter-currents nor eddies of the wind, but may produce the effect, abovel mentioned, ofself-adjustment with reference to the force of the wind and thus make the whole surface effective. At the middle of each of the wings B'Ais a slot ho, extending directly across the wingv from the front bar o to the rear bar b. At' the ends of this slot are curvatures Z910 in the bars b and h', which, when the same are `formed of wire, may be produced by slightly bending the wire; but if the bars are made of wood or of metal rods mere notches in these bars accomplish the same purpose as the curves Z910. f

The vertical wing C has also front and rear bars c and c', which serve to strain the fabric C between them. This vertical sail is intended for two purposes: first, to keep the kite in proper position with reference to the wind, like the rudder or centerboard of a lvessel acting upon the water, and the fabric,

IOO

may also be parallel. In the present instance said bars c and c' are bent at the middle to have inward curvatures cl, which may engage in the curves h1" of the wing ll when the sail C is inserted through the slot U) in order that the two wings may properly intersect, and the bars c and c slightly converge toward each other from the notches cw toward eaeh end of the wing in order that the end pieces c2 may be small enough to pass through the slot D0 and in order that the center portions of the bars c and c may be sprung inward in order to permit the notches c10 to spring into the notches JIV'.

The main spar, as shown in Fig. 5, is slit at each end to form the slots a' and a, which are made in intersecting planes at right angles to cach other and extend from the end of the spar to a distance a little greater than the transverse width of the sails B and C.

If new the sail C is inserted through the slot 110 and the notches ew engage in the notches Z110, the two sails intersect each other and may be set at right angles to each other, so that they may be intersected in the slots a and a', whereupon by any suitable fastening, such as the ferrule A', the cxtreme ends of the spar are held together, and the sails are locked and held in place. A-ny other fastening at the ends of the spa-r is obviously sufficient, such as winding with cord or wire. By releasing or removing the fastening at the ends of the spar the kite maybe taken apart and packed flat for transportation.

The construction of the sails is the same at each end of the spar, and they are fastened tothe bar in the saine manner. Then my device is used as a kite, it. is best, however, that the rear system of sails shall be smaller than the forward system, as the function of the rear system is mainly to keep the front system in a proper position with relation to the wind for steadying the kite against circularsoaring, diving, or taking a position with too much sail-surface exposed to the wind, and thus diminishing its lifting power. As seen in Fig. l, the kite-cord is fastened to the main spar at a point a0 only a short distance back of the front system of sails, so that the leverage as between the two systems of sails upon the cord as a fulcrum is much in favor of the rear system, and for this reason also the rear system is and should be smaller than the forward system.

The sails or wings and spars maybe guyed and braced in any suitable manner to produce strength and rigidity of the elements of the kite. The front bar D of the horizontal member of both the front and rear systems of sails is, however, bent, as shown in Figs. l and 2, in order to give a greater lifting power at the ends of the wings, and thus to produce a better balancing of the kite in the air and a better position of the fabric for obtaining a proper bearing against the wind. At a point a little more than one-half the distance from the main spar to the end of the front bar l) a guyis fastened, which extends from the spar to and over the upward extension of the bar c and to asimilar point on the bar I; en the other side of the main spar. The upper bar c2 has a notch om in it, in which the guy may rest and be detiuitelyheld. This guy is made of such length as to bend or bowthe bar Z) upward at its extremities in a uniform curve between the two points of fastening the guy and upon the main spar A as the middle of the curve. This curvature is clearly shown in Fig. 2 and, being even on both sides of the spar, produces the effects above mentioned. At the middle of the guy l), l prcferto intro duce a yoke-like piece of metal (l, engaging in the notch c2, so that the guy cannot slip sidewise upon the upper bar c.

In Fig. C is shown a construction having three main spars, three vertical wings, and one horizontalwing, which is adapted, by reason of its strength and the multiplying of the vertical sail members, to employ a greater length and width of horizontal wing for very high flights, the vertical wings tending to prevent side drift and to produce a straighter position with reference to the wind than a single vertical member only, because a very slight distortion of a single vertical member may have a considerable effect upon the position which the kite may take, which would be corrected when more than one member is used. The rear system of wings is, as described, a steering device in one respect.

This kite when magnified to proper proportions is adapted for use as an air-ship when provided with suitable propelling mechanism, and I do not intend in mybroader claims, although I use the word kite in them, to lim it my invention to the use of the device as a toy.

l. The combination in a kite of a horizontal wing, having front and rear bars and slack air-resisting material between said bars and a smaller vertical guiding-wing intersecting said horizontal wing at right angles, and a steering device behind said wings.

2. The combination in a kite of two horizon tal wings, each having front and rear bars and slack air-resisting material between said bars and a smaller vertical guiding-wing intersecting said horizontal wing at right anglcs,eachsyste1n being connected to the other system by a longitudinal spar and the rear system having smaller wings than the other.

3. The combination in a kite of a horizontal wing, having the front edges bowed upwardly at the extremities and the rear edge straight, and the slack air-resisting material between said edges, and a smaller guiding-wing set in a plane intersecting the horizontal wing at right angles, and a steering device behind said wings.

4. The combination in a kite of two horizontal wings, each having the front edge bowed upwardly at the extremities and the rear edge straight, and each having slack airresisting material between said edges, and a IOO IIO

.vertical guiding-wing set in a plane intersecting each horizontal' member at right angles, and each system being connected to the other by suitable mean, as a longitudinal spar.

5. The Combination of a main spar having two longitudinal slots in each end, at right angles to each other and horizontal and vertical Wings set in said slots and intersecting 

